His piano teacher could never have dreamed that he would one day become one of the most successful composers in Hollywood: Hans Zimmer only took lessons for two weeks before his teacher threw in the towel. “Either he goes or I go,” he said to Zimmer’s mother.
Six-year-old Hans Zimmer was not impressed by this – and on his 65th birthday he can look back on an impressive career that has made him one of the most successful film composers in the world.
Zimmer’s music conveys the really big feelings
Born on September 12, 1957 in Frankfurt am Main, Hans Zimmer set out to learn the craft of composing himself, without attending a music school or having a teacher. First he composed for commercials, then he teamed up with the film composer Stanley Myers (1933 – 1993). The leap to Hollywood came when director Barry Levinson engaged Hans Zimmer for his film “Rain Man” (1988) with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.
Zimmer performance in Copenhagen (in April): Showing solidarity with Ukraine through the choice of clothing
Since then, Zimmer has composed the music for more than 150 films. He won his first Oscar for the Disney cartoon “The Lion King” (1995), the second a full 27 years later for the remake of the science fiction classic “Dune” (2021), directed by Denis Villeneuve.
His Oscars are joined by two Golden Globes, three Grammys, a Tony and an American Music Award. Zimmer’s discography reads like a “best of” Hollywood film: from “Gladiator” (2000) to “Pirates of the Caribbean” (2003), “Batman: The Dark Knight” (2008) and “Dunkirk” (2017) to “James Bond: No Time To Die” (2021).
With his music, he has shaped the sound of Hollywood in all its breadth, from children’s films to action flicks to thought-provoking war dramas. In the cinema, his compositions develop a life of their own. “At the end of the day, it’s about expressing things with music that aren’t elegantly expressed in pictures or words on screen,” he once explained.
Scene from “The Lion King”: African music with classical elements
His compositions do not disappear into the background, but go straight to the heart of the audience, conveying the greatest emotions: from the trepidation of a soldier trapped on the beach at Dunkirk, to the pride of a king who finally takes his place on the throne, to… to the lust for freedom of a pirate like Captain Jack Sparrow, who is finally at the helm of his own ship.
Hans Zimmer has a secret of success
Zimmer has also composed for television, most recently for the BBC documentary series “Prehistoric Planet” (2022) and “Frozen Planet II” (2022) with legendary British documentary filmmaker Sir David Attenborough. While “Prehistoric Planet” resurrects the dinosaurs that died out 66 million years ago, “Frozen Planet II” is dedicated to today’s Arctic and Antarctic in the face of man-made climate change.
The secret of his success lies in something completely different than music lessons, reading music or technical perfection: listening. “The most important thing for a musician is to learn to listen. Not to learn to play,” the composer told DW in an interview a few years ago. He learned from other composers and their music. “The inspiration comes from the others. It’s like a conversation that takes place on a completely different level.”
Retirement is not in sight
Even at the age of 65, retirement is out of the question: Next year, Hans Zimmer will be on tour again, giving 32 concerts in 15 countries, including Germany. At the same time, the second part of “Dune” is already in the starting blocks, which is scheduled to hit the cinemas in 2023.
Zimmer also cares deeply about the future of the planet. The composer recently described his work on the nature documentary “Frozen Planet II” as “the most important thing we’ve ever done.”
In addition, on his last tour, which took place in the Ukraine shortly after the outbreak of war, he referred to the peace-making power of art. Art and artists are there “to bring peace to this world.” The son of Jewish parents who had to flee Germany in 1939, added that he was not a politician but that he wanted to bring people together. “I want this carnage to stop. I want this greed to stop. The greater purpose of art is to bring people together. And to break down walls – not build walls.
